Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, August 1922 · page 19 of 67
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #36 — page 19: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a humor advice column from *Captain Billy's Whiz Bang*, a satirical magazine popular in the 1920s-30s known for risqué jokes and irreverent responses. The column features humorous fake Q&A exchanges: 1. **"Mary Ann McCarthy" riddle**: A reader asks for missing words from a song lyric—the format suggests an off-color punchline (typical of the magazine's style), and the editors coyly refuse to supply it while offering a joke prize. 2. **"Heartbroken Hal"**: A man asks what to do if his wife dies; the response is darkly comic: "Bury her"—a deadpan non-answer that plays on the absurdity. 3. **Poetical Polly**: Asked what rhymes with "zephyr," the response absurdly defers to "Rosebud, our Hereford cow"—nonsensical humor typical of the magazine. The satire mocks advice columns by giving deliberately unhelpful, crude, or ridiculous answers. The "Minister's Daughter" and "Poetical Polly" names add to the joke—prim-sounding readers asking for help with dubious or silly questions.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang 17 Questions and Answers Dear Captain Billy—One of the boys in my boarding house is always humming the following words: “Mary Ann McCarthy, she went out to dig some clams; Mary Ann McCarthy, she went out to dig some clams, but she didn’t get a — — — clam.” Can you supply the missing words?—**Molly, Minister’s Daughter.** No, we never have heard them. However, we hereby offer a prize of a sixteen-jewel garden rake to the person who will tip the secret off tamally. * * * Dear Doctor Billy—My darling wife is sick. If she dies, what shall I do?—**Heartbroken Hal.** Bury her. * * * Dear Farmer Bill—What word rhymes with “zephyr,” please?—**Poetical Polly.** Your query has been referred to Rosebud, our Hereford cow. * * * Dear Captain Billy—Will you please tell me if the quotation “No, I won’t sit at the table